Game Designers, how do you rubberband or make catchup mechanics in your games? Especially in games where multiplayer dynamic usually keep the lead player in check, how do you ensure two player instances don’t result in runaway wins or cascading losses? 🎲✂️ - ThreadSky

jakekbarnhart.bsky.social • 15 days ago

Game Designers, how do you rubberband or make catchup mechanics in your games? Especially in games where multiplayer dynamic usually keep the lead player in check, how do you ensure two player instances don’t result in runaway wins or cascading losses? 🎲✂️

Comments

woodardj.bsky.social•15 days ago

Do you want it to *feel* like a headwind for the leader or a tailwind for those falling behind? That’s the first question I usually ask myself.

jakekbarnhart.bsky.social•14 days ago

I’m open to both but generally lean to help those behind and adding to fun rather than subtracting from the experience of the leader

perpetualploy.bsky.social•13 days ago

I like a rubber band mech that can be manipulated. In Quacks of Quedlinburg the player w/ the most points sets the curve for the rat tail catch-up mech, so players can make a conscious decision to take less VPs at times to lessen the advantage to other players or even sandbag to gain an advantage.

jakekbarnhart.bsky.social•13 days ago

A member of our local playtesting group suggested something similar. I really like this idea. Especially useful in a design where victory metrics are visible and there is more than one way to win. Thanks!

nickferris.bsky.social•14 days ago

I like to shove all scoring to endgame and let everything think they still have a shot. Not even hidden VP either; makes games people focus on playing rather than winning.

That said, catchup mechanics can be great if they are high-risk/high-reward *and* highly defensible by the leader playing well.

citysquarestudios.bsky.social•15 days ago

It depends on the why. If the why is "it feels bad to know I'm behind" I've been experimenting with hidden victory points. Can't feel bad if you don't know.

Also has the bonus of adding more tension.

marcgwiz.bsky.social•15 days ago

I think one way is to scale down economies -- if you have currency valued from 1 to 500 then someone getting left behind will have a hard time catching up. If the same game had currency scaling from 1 to 10, then the gap is easier to close (and _feels_ easier to close too!)

solisgamestudio.bsky.social•12 days ago

I always add this mechanic but I am also careful to not make it too powerful. There is a margin of how far ahead I would allow a player to be and that determines the strength of the rubberband mechanic.

vescis.bsky.social•14 days ago

Also good to note, if your game relies on player interaction to keep things in check, it might just not be a good 2 player game. That's fine! There are lots of games that aren't!

You could give the player behind control of a dummy 3rd player, though often dummies feel band-aid-y

jakekbarnhart.bsky.social•14 days ago

Thanks! Been exploring a similar space recently! I like this space but agree about its limitations.

vescis.bsky.social•14 days ago

The best rubber banding example is Power Grid. The player in the lead gets the most disadvantageous turn order. It helps that Power Grid's loop has a very pronounced turn order advantage.

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